[Sca-cooks] Sieggy's feast

[Siegfried Heydrich]

>multiple snips to conserve space<

> prune butter??? Is this pulped prunes? Or prunes mixed into butter?
    Basically the  same thing as apple butter, but with prunes.

> peppers? Or is this meant to be a late period feast? What
> type of pepper? Recipe?
    I'm not going for a specific time period, I'm trying for a cultural /
complementary taste for each course. I've run across descriptions of this
dish several times in late period spanish sources, and I'm doing this one
from pure speculation. It's always struck me as almost a peasant dish, yet
very rich and colorful.
    Brown your chicken pieces in olive oil, then braise your peppers &
onions in the same oil, add your cleaned tomatoes and pitted, quartered
olives (I'll use 2 or 3 kinds for complexity) at the end. Adjust seasonings
and place everything in a deep pan and bake in a slow oven for an hour or
so. (short version)
    This is a reconstruction purely from descriptions I've seen of the dish.
As for peppers, I'm trying to make it as colorful and pleasing to the eye as
possible, so once again, I'll use as many varieties as I can get (make a run
to the carribean market in Tampa for them).

> >  Cauli verdi
> And this is?
    Quartered brussels sprouts, broccoli florets, cubed fennel boiled in
veggie broth (add the broccoli at the end, as they'll turn to mush if you
start them with the sprouts) Drain, toss with olive oil, salt & pepper.

> Have you found any evidence for roasted garlic in period? We've
> discussed this previously, but I don't think anyone came up with
> any evidence of garlic being roasted in period. I like roasted
> garlic. I'd love to have evidence of its use in period.
    Not really, but every time I've made it, people go nuts. This is one of
those periodoid  things, more dictated by ease of prep, cost, and people's
reactions. Though I might go with a hummus instead . . .

> >  Pomegranate sorbet
> Sounds interesting. Again, any proof of this being done
> before 1600? Recipe? I've got pomegranate juice. I might
> want to try this.
    Someone posted links about frozen sorbets and the like a while back, and
they indicated that ices (in one form or another) were period, and this is
just me winging it. I experimented with some a few years ago and have
developed a way of mass producing sorbets that don't require anything
complicated, though it's uncomfortable as hell (unless you're a penguin).
Pomegranates are exotic enough that people will marvel at the taste, but not
so exotic that they'll go 'ick! that sounds weird!'. I'm also thinking about
using carombolas (because I can get zillions of them for free), but they're
REALLY not period. But they taste FANTASTIC! Or maybe mango . . .

> >  Sweet Waffres
> Whose recipe/redaction? I've had mixed success with various
> redactions.
    There are 3 I'm fiddling with, haven't decided yet. I'll probably wind
up doing my own variant.

> Anyone know if cashews were period to the Middle East or
> Europe?
    Not really sure - I might use pistachios instead.

> Sounds like an interesting feast. Certainly more complex than
> most I've had here in Ansteorra.

    We're trying for more than just a meal - this is going to be tied in
with sequential and episodic entertainment, as well as different acts. What
we're thinking of is a cross between a Vegas show and an interactive soap
opera. If you've ever been to one of those 'mystery plays' where you
interact with the cast, you get the general idea.
    We want people to go and tell others what a grand time they had, and
maybe we can start getting the idea across that feast can be more than JUST
a meal. It's risky, but hey, worth a shot. It's still in the formative
stages at this point, but we have enough talented people to pull it off . .
.

    Sieggy